Former girlfriend said she was duped by Cape murder suspect

While their content has not been publicly disclosed, a series of letters Robert Upton sent to his ex-girlfriend from jail could end up hurting him in his murder trial. Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson ruled Friday that a series of letters Upton sent to Mix 104.1 FM Boston radio DJ Erin O’Malley were adm...

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

Posted Jan. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 12, 2013 at 12:05 PM

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff

Posted Jan. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 12, 2013 at 12:05 PM

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While their content has not been publicly disclosed, a series of letters Robert Upton sent to his ex-girlfriend from jail could end up hurting him in his murder trial.

Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson ruled Friday that a series of letters Upton sent to Mix 104.1 FM Boston radio DJ Erin O’Malley were admissible — a ruling that allows a state prosecutor to ask a series of questions he believes is crucial to his case.

Upton, 48, formerly of Ipswich, is one of three men charged with the murder of 47-year-old Aris Manoloules of Framingham. Manoloules was found dead in his Hyannis summer home in September of 2009.

Before jurors filed in for opening statements Tuesday, Nickerson told Cape and Islands First Assistant District Attorney Brian Glenny to refrain from mentioning his contention that Upton, then a married father, told O’Malley he was a wealthy government agent in order to impress her.

The state claims Upton killed Aris Manoloules on a promise of receiving $165,000 from the man’s brother, Treefon Manoloules, who was acquitted in 2011 of plotting the murder. Treefon’s 21-year-old son, Christopher Manoloules, is also charged with murder but has yet to stand trial.

Glenny argued to Nickerson Tuesday that the driving theory of his case is that Upton needed cash to support the wealthy National Security Agent image he created for O’Malley. Nickerson said he would rule on whether to allow the information later in the trial.

That ruling came Friday, as Nickerson allowed O’Malley to testify about Upton’s alleged NSA claims for the "very limited reason" of allowing jurors to understand the prison letters, which he said were admissible.

The content of the letters was not revealed, and Glenny told The Daily News he couldn’t yet elaborate on what they contained.

O’Malley — who was very emotional when discussing Upton at the 2011 trial of Treefon Manoloules — again had a hard time on the witness stand Friday grappling with her belief that she was fooled by a man she thought she loved.

O’Malley said she met Upton in April 2007 when she bought a Hummer from him at his job at Long Cadillac in Southborough. They became friends first, O’Malley said, and later lovers after Upton produced papers she had requested proving he had been divorced.

In fact, the papers were false, O’Malley said, as was nearly everything Upton told her over the course of their relationship.

In addition to telling her he was a federal agent — explaining his absences by saying he was on "missions" — Upton also falsely claimed he was an ex-Navy SEAL, was on the "border patrol" and had been trained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

O’Malley said her gut told her something wasn’t right, however Upton "had an answer for everything."

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For instance, when she found a common misspelling on his NSA "badge," he made her "feel stupid" by explaining that was done on purpose so that if he lost it on a mission it would be presumed to be fake.

When he had to borrow $10,000 from her father for a lavish trip to Fiji, it was because the NSA "froze" his bank account, O’Malley testified.

The account was also frozen when the car dealer came to repossess the $77,000 Mercedes convertible he insisted on buying for her as a "summer car" — something the DJ said he told her after she didn’t believe his first contention that the car had been recalled.

When cross-examined by Upton’s lawyer Daniel Solomon as to how she could have believed Upton’s stories, O’Malley admitted she had been duped.

"I thought, ‘Wow, this guy really does have money,’" O’Malley remembered thinking when she got the Mercedes. The two were even having serious talks about marriage, she said, with a possible wedding at Disney World.

The fairy tale quickly faded after Upton’s arrest, as O’Malley found a gun case stashed in her basement several days later.

"I pried the lock open," she said, her voice cracking, and saw the Ruger 9mm handgun prosecutors say was used to shoot Aris Manoloules four times. She said she also found a box of bullets with four missing.

O’Malley, who has since married and is about nine months pregnant, did not look at Upton other than when she was asked to identify him. She said she immediately turned the letters he sent her from jail over to police.

Upton’s trial will resume Monday. Jurors will not hear from Treefon Manoloules, as he pleaded the Fifth Amendment Friday after being subpoenaed by both sides.

Treefon Manoloules declined to comment outside the courtroom.

Brad Petrishen can be reached at 508-490-7463 or bpetrishen@wickedlocal.com. For live coverage of the trial from court, follow him on Twitter @Brad_Petrishen.